


the gentler gamester is the soonest winner

by galvanator



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Happily Ever After, House Parties, Making Out, Seat Thief!Ben, a dash of angst, and now, ben is just trying his best u guys, but we love her so we don't mind, he can't help it if he's kind of a boot licker, its still v fluffy tho, its what they DESERVE, mostly due to Rey, or so you think, the angst™, there is tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23509123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galvanator/pseuds/galvanator
Summary: "I have a seat thief.” Rey said, clutching the pen harder in her grip.“A what?”“A seat thief. Someone who steals my unassigned-assigned seat. It’s been going on all semester in my night class. It’s very frustrating.”-Ben steals Rey's seat in class (a crime akin to high treason) and Rey refuses to go down without a fight.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 32
Kudos: 188





	1. to sport would be as tedious as to work

**Author's Note:**

> this is an experience dear to my heart and i hope all you fellow over-thinkers will agree with me. in fact, Rey's civility about this whole situation requires a lot of self restraint on my part. (so you're welcome, Ben ಠ_ಠ )

Rey glanced at the clock for the sixth time this hour.

_5:22. Still time… probably._

She didn’t want to seem impatient or like a bad worker, but there was only so much one could do at a coffee counter when no one has been in it for the last hour and a half. She cleaned the espresso machine _twice_ , refilled the sugar packet and every size of cup, even swept behind the counter and _in front_ of it. All of this was supposed to help the time pass until she and Kaydel could close up and head out for the evening, and yet, here she was, still eight minutes to go.

Kaydel glanced at her and pointedly looked down at the pen Rey was incessantly tapping against the register.

“Everything okay?” Kaydel asked. Rey knew that Kaydel was polite and was probably asking this anticipating an ‘ _Oh, yeah, everything is fine_ ’ then moving on from the conversation all together. But not Rey. She had a grievance to air and Kaydel had unwittingly opened the flood gates.

“I have a seat thief.” Rey said, clutching the pen harder in her grip. Kaydel looked back up at her with a very confused expression that makes Rey wish she had her phone out.

“A what?”

“A seat thief. Someone who steals my unassigned-assigned seat. It’s been going on all semester in my night class. It’s very frustrating.”

“Rey… its October. You’ve been fighting with someone, _about a seat_ , for weeks now?”

Rey gulps. A downside to actually being able to get this off her chest is how unbelievably petty this all sounds out loud.

“It’s a very nice seat; the perfect one! Front row, so I don’t have to worry about seeing the board, right handed table cuz getting stuck at the left handed ones are _the worst_ , and it’s close enough to the door that I don’t get stampeded while trying to make it out in a timely manner. It’s the perfect seat and my seat thief continues to steal it from me because he’s a stupid… seat stealer,” Rey finishes. Kaydel is now looking up at her as if Rey is speaking in a foreign language.

“Okay then… isn’t your night class right across the street? Don’t you get there like super early?” Kaydel asks. Rey throws her hands in the air.

“I do! I get there _ridiculously_ early! But he’s _even earlier_. Because he’s a criminal mastermind, I assume.”

The alert on Rey’s phone goes off indicating that it’s time to officially close up and head to class, so she works with a honed proficiency and is able to walk out of the doors exactly at 5:37. Rey fast-walks, but doesn’t run (she’s not _that_ crazy) into the building and into the room, only to be met with **his** dark stare.

Him.

Mr. Seat Thief.

Tall, dark, and criminal.

They’re the only two people in the classroom and Rey wonders if he can feel the simmering rage rolling off her. She hopes he can. She hopes that he feels the daggers she’s throwing with her eyes. She hopes that he knows that, regardless of how stupid hot he is (with that luscious hair and hands that could cover her entire waist), that he is a thief and Rey has some very choice words for him that shouldn’t be spoken in polite society.

His head nods to acknowledge her, and despite Rey’s slight urge to flip him off, she returns the gesture and sits her semi-official seat. It’s towards the back, with a pole obstructing the right side of the board, and one seat over from the furthest to the board. Rey tries to temper down her rage, but the silent class room eats at her.

She’s about to march right up to Hottie McSeat Stealer, but a group of kids file in the class, followed closely by Professor Tano. Rey thinks that yelling obscenities at another student wouldn’t give Professor Tano the good impression she desperately needs every authoritative figure to have of her.

So Rey fights the silent war inside of herself and tries not to focus too much energy on hoping Seat Thief’s pencil breaks.

-

“Rey, your class isn’t until six; why the hell would you leave now?” Finn asks, incredulous.

“Rey is sort of fighting this dude for her seat. She thinks she has to get there an hour early to beat him in this game of musical chairs,” Rose’s voice is level and filled with none of the mirth Rey’s definitely would. She imagines that this is what it would feel like if she had a mother who was uninterested in her endeavors, but still knew enough about them to warn her father.

“It isn’t a game. I’m winning my seat back. I won’t be able to focus if I don’t,” Rey says determinedly. She wraps another scarf around her neck before turning to face her friends. Finn is giving Rey the same look Kaydel gave her last week. Rose is flipping through a text book and ignoring the inane argument that feels inevitable now.

“Rey-Rey, aren’t you a little old to be fighting a boy about a seat?” Poe’s voice calls out from the bathroom.

“Why don’t you pay more attention to the amount of gel you put in your hair instead of my battle,” Rey calls back. She hears an incredulous gasp from behind the door and smirks to herself.

“Poe’s got a point. Have you considered talking to him and asking him to move before declaring all out war?” Finn asks.

“And say what? ‘I know we’re both at the collegiate level, but please get out of my seat because I’m about to have a temper tantrum akin to a four-year-old who was told it’s time for bed’? The only way to fight this is like adults. Passive-Aggressive comments until one of us kill the other or graduate. And I’m unwilling to wait until May for this to be over so… passive-aggressiveness will have to do,” Rey stalks towards the door, ignoring the protest from her friends and heads out to her night class a while hour and a half before six.

It’s going to be a long night.

-

The classroom is blessedly empty when Rey arrives and she has the pleasure of taking her rightful place in _her_ seat. She’d gloat to anyone who asked, but she was alone and not crazy enough to talk to people who weren’t there (in public at least).

Thirty minutes before the start of class, a dethroned, no-longer-seat stealer enters the door way. His eyes are wide when he sees Rey in (what he thinks should be) his seat. She’s got a shit eating grin, typing away on her laptop, and trying to repress the urge to shout ‘ _Ha! In your face!’_

Instead of move his defeated self to the seat she now thinks of as the loser seat, he sits right. next. to. her.

An empty class room. Roughly seventy-five seats.

Just them. Next to each other.

Mortal enemies. Thrust into strangely intimate quarters.

It’s… a lot.

Rey thinks this would be easier if he weren’t so beautiful. If his hair didn’t fall so perfectly in his face. If his plush lips didn’t look like they could suck the life right out of her. _Easier_ , Rey thinks.

As it stands, Seat Stealer opens his expensive laptop and Rey finds herself wanting to see what he’s typing. Just to see if he’s keeping a physical list of the times he’s won and the times she’s won, but that’s ridiculous. He is an adult and so is she and keeping a juvenile record of whose won would be insane.

(Rey keeps her tally on the second to last page of her notebook.)

Instead, Rey hold steady, keeping her attention firmly on her own laptop and biding the time until class starts. Student begin to file in and it’s almost possible for Rey to forget the strange man beside her.

_Almost_.

Because of course he smells amazing; like fancy coffee beans and soap products that Gwyneth Paltrow would rave about and _warm_. Rey doesn’t think she’s ever met a person who smells warm before, but he did. And it was unnerving and a little scary, so Rey really can’t fault herself for having to re-read the same sentence thirteen times.

His hands are also massive and Rey is decidedly not going to think about what he could do with them.

Seat Stealer is stoic, dutifully typing away, none the wiser to Rey’s internal clusterfuck that is her brain.

Dr. Tano comes in and starts the lesson, and Rey is finally able to focus on something other than Seat Stealer and she’s honestly considering writing the English department and telling them they need to give her a rise. While English isn’t Rey’s favorite subject, it’s the lesser evil of the humanities the university is forcing her to take and she actually finds that she enjoys it. The depth of the conversations, the possibilities within writing; it’s complex and individually based and a world away from the math equations that take up the majority of her civil engineering course work.

Class is going perfectly fine, even better now that Rey is back in her seat until Dr. Tano decides to drop a little bomb on Rey’s seat-reclaiming venture.

“As you all know, midterm grades will be released this coming Monday. I’m sure many of you will have questions about comments, and while I’m happy to answer any questions, I do ask that you contact my assistant Ben about more clerical information. He’s read quite a bit of my chicken scratch before, so I’m sure he could answer any question you have as well…” Dr. Tano moves her hand to indicate where Ben is, or rather should be, but is in fact occupied by Rey.

Seat Stealer (or Ben) raises his hand sheepishly to show that he is the one people should come to with question and no the red-faced, sweaty blob that Rey has devolved into.

Dr. Tano wraps up class and students begin filing out the door, paying no mind that Rey was not the first one out despite her proximity to the exit, a once thought of benefit to this particular seat. She waits until the majority of students have left or lined up to speak with Dr. Tano, before she even dares to look at him.

Ben is packing up, placing his things delicately in a bag that probably cost the same as a semesters worth of tuition. Rey decides she must right this wrong. If she doesn’t do it now, she will absolutely chicken out and Hottie-Seat-Stealer-Ben will forever think of her as the poor girl who stole _his_ seat on the wrong day.

“You were stealing my seat because your the TA… and TA’s sit up front…” Rey says to him. She would typically start with a bit more normal greeting ( _Hi! or Hello! or I’d like to see you shirtless or pant-less or both_ ), but feels that their predicament merits forgoing that courtesy.

“I’m sorry?” He says, looking over to her. God, his _voice_.

“You were sitting her because you’re the TA,” She repeats. Ben shrugs as if to say ‘sort of’ before shaking his head.

“It’s really no big deal, it’s just convent for Ashoka- Sorry, Dr. Tano. I think she just got kind of used to me being right there. But, again, no big deal,” Ben says. She want’s to thank him for being so incredibly blasé about the whole thing, but Rey, being Rey, can’t let it go.

“You really should have told me to bugger off. I mean, I ended up being the Seat Thief I assumed you were! I really am sorry.”

“‘Seat Thief’?” He questions, lips upturned in the corner. “I don’t think you could steal something that doesn’t actually belong to me.”

Rey’s cheeks are red, she’s sure of it. “Well, regardless, I apologize. I completely relinquish all seat-beholden right to you. For the semester, at least,” Rey laughs nervously. The slight twitch of Ben’s lips have formed into a broad smile and Rey now regrets the silent time she’s wasted on him earlier. They could’ve talked and she could’ve heard his voice and maybe have even made him smile, but no. She spent it without doing any of those things and she wants to punch herself for letting that happen.

“I appreciate that. But I still don’t think I’d ever tell you to bugger off,” Ben says.

“Well… good then. Thank you,” Rey says, looking towards the ground to hide the smile pinching her cheeks. “As an apology, I’ll save you seat for you next class. Make sure no other Seat Thieves intrude.”

“That’d be kind of you,” His voice is low and sweet and Rey wants to swim in it. “I’ll… see you around…?” Ben extends a hand towards her.

“Rey… Niima,” Rey says, taking his hand. It’s large and firm around her and Rey knows why he smells warm; he is _warm_. Deliciously so.

“Ben Solo.”


	2. to mourn a mischief that is past and gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Looking very debonair in dark jeans and a too-tight sweater stretched across his wide chest, is an exasperated man, formerly known a Seat Thief. Otherwise known as Ben._
> 
> _Oh, fuck. ___
> 
> __-_ _
> 
> __Rey and Ben find out they have some mutual friends. (Shocking, I know.)_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's awkward silences! it's a lot of blushing! it's... The Angst™

“This equation is wrong.”

“What? Where?”

“The variable is in the wrong place, I think.”

“I’ll email Skywalker,” Rey says. Finn continues onto the next problem as Rey thinks of a polite way to tell a professor with an ego the size of Coruscant that he got something wrong. Poe takes a loud sip of a frappuccino that ran out about three sips ago. Rey looks up to give Poe a pointed glare when she sees his face look behind her shoulder and light up.

“Benji!” Poe shouts, waving his hands. Rey is used to Poe’s… eccentric behavior, even has come to like it on occasion, but this isn’t that time. Rey is prepping for her onslaught of midterms, trying to figure out how she can squeeze more hours in at the coffee counter without any more hours in the day, and hoping that she can stretch her clean underwear until next week.

In short, Rey does not have time to make pleasantries with the, most likely, similarly eccentric person Poe is about to introduce to them. Rey glances behind her shoulder and feels her stomach drop.

Looking very debonair in dark jeans and a too-tight sweater stretched across his wide chest, is an exasperated man, formerly known a Seat Thief. Otherwise known as Ben.

Oh, _fuck_.

Rey snaps her head back around, trying to come up with a way to inconspicuously brush out her greasy, one-too-many-days-of-dry-shampooed hair. She prays that there are no rogue grease stains on her clothes from her shop class and vows to do her laundry as soon as she gets home.

“Guys, this is my friend Ben. I don’t think you’ve met him. He refuses to come to my parties because he has a pole up his tight ass,” Poe says. Ben has now walked up to the table, looking cool and calm in a way that makes her want to die.

“Ugh, hi Poe,” He says curtly. Rey thinks for one minute that perhaps he doesn’t recognize her, probably from lack of throwing daggers with his eyes at her during class, but it proved wrong. “Rey,” Ben says nodding towards her.

“Hey,” Rey says, voice breathless.

“How do you know each other?” Poe asks, taking another sip from his cup. Rey resist the urge to slap it out of his hands.

“Rey is in Ashoka Tano’s class that I’m helping out in,” Ben explains.

“Oh, the one where that guys keeps stealing your seat?” Finn pipes up. Rey would very much like armageddon to happen right. fucking. now.

“That was actually just a misunderstanding on my part! Not a big deal really; we sorted it out,” Rey pipes up, her voice octavos higher than usual. Both Finn and Poe give her an odd look, but ben just chuckles. “Um, how do you know Poe?” She asks Ben.

Ben opens his mouth to start explaining, but Poe beats him to it. “Oh, Benny and I go way back. Our parents are old friends. How’s your Mom doing? I haven’t seen her around the office for a few days.”

“She’s fine. Vacation with my Dad for their anniversary,” Ben says.

“I thought they were divorced?” Poe asks.

“They are.” Ben’s deadpan voice makes Rey let out a nervous chuckle.

After a tense moment Finn clears his voice and Poe pipes back up. “This is our friend Finn. You’d of met him already if you ever answered any of my texts.” A terse silence falls over the group after Finn and Ben shake hands, and Ben looks down at her, mirroring Rey’s discomfort.

“Well, I’ll… see you around then,” Ben nods before walking off. Rey wants desperately to get back to studying, but leave it to Poe not to know when to shut up.

“That was weird.” He looks over at Rey. “Why was it so weird between you two?”

Rey huffs, refusing to make eye contact. “It’s not weird between us.”

“Um, yes it is.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It totally is-”

“Are you five years old? It’s not weird and that’s that.”

“Ooookayyyy…” Poe drawls.

Rey tries to focus on her work, but can’t help and glance over to where Ben wandered off. She wonders if Poe was right, if it was weird. It shouldn’t be, should it? The air was clear, the seat stealing was all but forgotten, they even had a little flirt.

But it does feel weird, although she’ll never admit that to Poe.

Rey decides that no work will get done under these conditions and begins to pack up.

“Where are you going?” Finn asks when she shuts her laptop.

“I’m just not in a studying mood right now.”

“Rey-Rey, is this about the thing with Ben? I’m sorry for bringing it up-“

“It’s really not, Poe. No worries, really.” Finn and Poe share an unconvinced look so Rey gives them her best mega-watt smile to appease the situation. She thinks, perhaps, that it just makes her look like a lunatic.

“Okay, well… we’ll see you at home?” Finn asks. Rey flashes him a thumbs up before marching on.

-

A quick detour later, Rey finds Ben on the second floor in the library, pouring over a book that is at least four times her age. He looks every bit the studious literature professor that could be found in the library at four o’clock on a Friday night. She tries not to find it so endearing.

As she approaches him, Ben looks up at her and a wide smile spreads across his face. She tries not to find that so endearing as well. (She fails spectacularly.)

“Hi,” He breathes. Rey stick out the small paper bag in her grasp. Ben’s brow knits in confusion.

“It’s an apology scone,” Rey clarifies.

“That’s really unnecessary, Rey, honestly-”

“Actually it is necessary, for me, at least. I was very mean to you in my head, like shakespearian-level-insults-mean. You accepting this would help ease my mind tremendously. It’s really more of a favor to me, so: take it.” She pushes the bag even closer to him.

Ben laughs, a real, hearty laugh that makes something in Rey _sing_.

“I’d hate for you to live with this guilt, so,” Ben takes the package, “thank you.”

Rey beams at him. She’s overcome with the urge to sit down next to him and tell him about her day then ask him every question she could possibly think of when she realizes that she did not plan this far.

Obtain apology scone: check.

Present apology scone: check.

Her fool proof plan did not account for how much she didn’t want to leave after giving him said scone, so now she’s standing next to him unsure of her next move.

“Do you wanna…?” Ben gestures vaguely to the table and Rey is seated across from him before he can finish speaking. She hopes the little chuckle he gives is more at her actions than at _her_.

“Are you a grad student?” Rey asks, desperate to move on from the long, awkward pauses that seem to plague her day.

“PhD candidate, actually. In literature. Thats why I’m assisting Dr. Tano,” He explains.

“Oh wow. How long does that track take?”

“About four years to complete just for the doctoral. I have about a year left.”

“Me too! I mean, in undergrad. Not PhD. I don’t think I could handle another four years of school.”

“What’s your major?”

“Civil Engineering.”

Ben’s eyebrows raise. “Very impressive.”

“It’s really not… but thanks. I’m not sure Professor Skywalker would agree,” Rey laughs. A darkness crosses Ben’s face that make something twist unpleasantly in Rey’s gut.

“That’s not surprising.” Ben says, voice low. This would be an excellent time to practice the self-restraint Rey is always meaning to work on, but her mouth works before her brain does.

“You know him, too? Professor Skywalker?” She ask.

“Ugh, yeah. He’s my uncle.”

Rey is sure her confused face is, in fact, the _least_ attractive thing she could be doing right now, but she can’t quite help it.

“Wow, that’s… crazy that we’ve never met before. I mean- we pretty much run in the same circles,” Rey says. Ben runs a hand through his hair and shrugs.

“I don’t really hang out with them… or anyone, really. They all were pretty pissed when I chose FO instead of Chandrila for undergrad.”

_Oh_.

“Oh.” The silence is awkward but she’d choose that instead of automatic reaction of calling him a villainous, uncaring, republican snake that she assumes everyone who comes out of First Order University is.

But he’s not. He’s Ben. Her mentor’s nephew. Her best friend’s childhood friend. Her favorite teachers TA. The guy who has been super cool and nice when he could’ve been a total and complete ass and gotten away with it.

“Well, it’s nice that you came back. You should, you know. Hang out with them again, I mean.”

“You think?” He looks at her cockeyed, and Rey hopes she’s not blushing too hard when she responds.

“Yeah! Because… I hand out with them. So we could hang out, together. It would be… nice.”

Rey swears she sees the tips of his ear turn red and is unable to kid herself on how endearing she finds _that_.

“Yeah… nice.”

They look at each other for a long moment and Rey tries to ignore the plushness of his lips and constellation of moles and the twitch in his lips that she’s come to assume his his version of smiling.

And then, once more, a bomb.

“Ah, there you are Ben! Do you have the 100 level assessments from last week?” Dr. Tano’s voice breaks them out of their reverie and Ben begins to shuffle through his meticulously organized folders. “Oh, good evening Ms. Niima.”

Rey swallows the lump in her throat. Dr. Tano doesn’t seem to notice anything going on between Ben and herself, not that there _is_ anything going on, but Rey still feels like the kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“Ms. Niima were just going over her midterm,” Ben lies as he hands Dr. Tano a stack of papers. Based on his response, at least Rey knows Ben feels the same way.

“That’s very admirable of you, Ms. Niima. But don’t let Ben take up too much of your Friday night,” Dr. Tano says. Rey laughs a little too hard and it sounds unconvincing even to her own ears.

“I was just leaving actually… I’ll see you in class, Dr. Tano. Um… goodnight.” Rey quickly swings her backpack on and shoves the chair back under the table before either of them have a chance to respond.

Rey does spare a glance back towards Ben when she reaches the door. Dr. Tano is speaking to him, something probably important, but Ben is focused on her.

She exits library and tries to pretend that the clenching she feels in her heart is just temporary and has nothing to do with Ben.

(Unfortunately, Rey is smart enough to know it _does_.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come say hi on tumblr!](https://ehstarwar.tumblr.com)


	3. when I waked, I cried to dream again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“And that reminds me,” Poe says. “I got you a present.”_
> 
> _Now this piques Rey’s interest._
> 
> _“Is it the cupcake I saw at the supermarket last Wednesday? I’ve never seen so much icing on one piece of cake; it was truly a remarkable confection.”_
> 
> _“Um, not exactly.” Rey tries not to let her face fall too much; she was still getting a gift, after all. “I invited Ben.” ___
> 
> __-_ _
> 
> __Poe throws a party and is decidedly _not _trying to get Ben and Rey together.___ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know that saying, 'you're going to hurt but it's gonna be worth it'? y'all know that one? tis a good mantra to have for this chapter, i think

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Rey tells Poe for the 100th time that day.

“Ugh, Rey. It is _past midterms_. Everyone needs to blow off a little steam. Including _you_. Especially you, as a matter of fact.” Rey tried not to frown too hard and look like the petulant child she felt she was at the moment.

“I don’t need to blow off steam. I need to figure out a sufficient way to write about it for my physics class.”

Poe sighs and spins the office chair that was acting as a salon chair around to face him.

“It is thursday. Thirsty Thursday. The day universally decided by college students as the day to get fucked up. I have ben very gracious about my leniency with you missing Thirsty Thursdays this semester because I know you have a large course load and have to study more often than not.” Rey was ready to accept his apology and move on and have a grand night; if Poe stopped at that, which, of course, he couldn’t.

“BUT,” he begins again, and Rey does not repress the eye roll,”this is probably the last week you’re going to accept my offer to come to Thirsty Thursday for the rest of the semester. And I, for one, want to hang out with one of my best friends before she throws herself into a self-induced solitary state for finals. So please, try and enjoy the fun events your peers and I put on for you. _Please_.”

Rey huffs. “You’re not even a college student,” She grumbles. Poe grins triumphantly, clearly the winner of this argument. “How would your boss, President Organa, feel about you corrupting students with wild parties?”

“Your argument is invalid because one: Leia Organa is the President of the University and Amilyn Holdo is the Director of Admission, and therefore, my boss. And two, if anyone knows the benefits of a good gathering, it’s Leia! She was quite the wild child in her day,” Poe says, expressing great admiration for President Organa. She felt it too, albeit, for different reasons.

“And that reminds me,” Poe suddenly swung the chair back around and Rey was forced to grip the handles to steady herself. “I got you a present.”

Now this piques Rey’s interest.

“Is it the cupcake I saw at the supermarket last Wednesday? I’ve never seen so much icing on one piece of cake; it was truly a remarkable confection.”

“Um, not exactly.” Rey tries not to let her face fall too much; she was still getting a gift, after all. “I invited Ben.”

Reg grips the handles so hard she’s surprised it maintains it molecular structure of plastic.

“ _Why_?”

“You guys were a little weird with each other the other day, but like in a sexy way; like you guys are definitely gonna fuck at some point but neither of you know how to speak to each other. So I figured I’d help things along and invite him.”

Rey’s jaw clenches. She tries to keep her face as passive as possible, which is proving to be… challenging.

“Ben is essentially a superior. We can’t fuck. And we don’t want to. It’s not going to happen.”

“Sure, Jan.”

“Poe! I’m serious. It’s… not like that.” If it weren’t for the curling wand wrapped in her hair and being utilized by Poe, Rey would’ve stormed out of there and right to the supermarket for her mountain-of-icing cupcake. She’s sure of it.

“Well, whatever it’s like or not like, he’s coming.”

“How do you know? You said he never comes to things like this.”

“Ben _actually_ responded to me. He said: ‘ _I’ll think about it’_ , which is Solo-speak for ‘ _yeah, I’m coming_ ’.”

Rey grumbles to herself for a few moments, trying not to bite her nails. A nervous habit she’s been trying to break since before her parents left her. She wonders about Ben’s parents for a moment before stomping that thought down.

“I will agree to stay for the majority of the party tonight as long as you promise to never mess with my love-life again, got it?” She points at Poe through the mirror, trying to be as intimidating as possible for someone with butterfly clips holding parts of their hair back, can.

“So you admit, Ben is apart of your love life?” The trademark Dameron smirk flashed across Poe’s face.

Rey just frowned and tried to take a power nap while he worked. She wouldn’t give Poe the satisfaction of being right.

Even if he was.

-

The thing about Poe is, he don’t just throw a party; he throws The Party. He has the miraculous ability to turn any setting into an Animal House level of chaos, while perfectly predicting the amount of alcohol needed to sustain such an enviroment. He plays the perfect music at the perfect volume, invites the perfect amount of people, and has the prefect response to any problems that could arise.

Except, of course, the problem of what Rey should say to her teachers assistant who she may have a crush on but shouldn’t have a crush on. Well, Poe would probably have a solution for that too, but not one she’s willing to entertain.

Rey has stationed herself between the kitchen and the living room of Poe’s townhouse, the only place where there wasn’t a ping pong table in her way or sweaty frat dudes grinding on girls with too little clothing. She’s nursing the vodka soda that’s gone flat about twenty minutes ago, but venturing into the kitchen is too much of a risk.

She smiles at people walking by, makes small talk with Kaydel and asks about her all black ensemble (‘ _It’s a full moon, Rey_ ’ she says, like it’s the most obvious thing), and tries to bide her time until Poe is sufficiently drunk and she can sneak out.

This is also where Ben finds her, when Poe is roughly two shots of Jagermister away from not noticing Rey’s existence.

“Hi,” He says over the music.

“Hey,” She shouts back. They say nothing for a few awkward moments and Rey has time to look Ben over.

The black henley is probably more expensive than her entire wardrobe and his dark wash jeans seem to be his signature. But it is a beautiful signature. One people remark on. One she wants to rip off him. One she wants to walk over in the morning while he cooks her pancakes and bacon.

“You look nice,” Ben says, and Rey realizes she’s staring.

“You too.”

“This is a nice house.”

“Yeah.”

Rey is admittedly not the best conversationalist but this is bad, even for her. _Fuck it_ , she thinks.

“Do you want to get a drink?” She asks. Ben nods, so she grabs his hand and leads him up the stairs. Poe has a hidden mini fridge in his closet, which he uses for facial products, the Really Good Liqour, and emergencies.

This particular moment constitutes and emergency, Rey thinks. One of the social variety.

Ben’s hand is warm and large and she really can’t help it if his fingers lace through hers on their way up the stairs. She also can’t help it if her hips swish a little more than necessary, too.

Rey quickly pulls him into Poe’s room, and heads to the mini fridge.

  
“Poe has good liquor in here, I think,” She says, pushing his clothes to the side to get to it. When she opens it use, she finds two empty mini-bottles of grey goose, two white claws, and a bottle of water. _Thanks for nothing, Dameron_. “Well, he always told me he has good liquor in here. White claw?” She holds one out to Ben.

“Um… water will be fine. Thanks,” She passes him the bottle, noticing how his right hand dwarfs it and how his left hand is still intertwined with hers. She makes no move to let him go and neither does he.

They sip their drinks, feeling the bass of whatever EDM hit shake the walls around them. She was waiting for him to make a move. She’d done her part, gotten them _here_ , gotten them _alone_ ; it was only fair that Ben give an indication this this isn’t one-sided.

“Do you… like parties?” He asks. His thumb was rubbing distracting circles on the back of her hand.

“Not at all” _Not unless you’re here_. “Poe had to bribe me.”

“With what?”

_Your presence_. “A cupcake.”

A slow soft smile spreads across Ben’s lips and Rey accidentally squeezes his hand too hard to be polite.

“Poe told us you never come to parties.” She breaks the silence. The weight of his smile and stare feeling like a warm blanket around her.

“I usually don’t?”

“Did he bribe yo to come, too?”

“Yeah.”

“With a cupcake?”

“No.” He pauses and Rey realizes that they’ve drifted closer together. She can see the outline of his chest through the tight fabric. She can smell the expensive after-shave on his jaw. She can feel the warmth radiating off him, beckoning her closer. “With you.”

Rey doesn’t know who moves first, all she knows that however soft she imagined his lips to be, they’re even softer. His mouth moves against hers, hungry and desperate. She slides her tongue into his mouth, tangling with his. His hands go to cup her head, holding her against him, and hers go to feel him through his shirt.

He pushes her up against the wall, gently probing his leg between hers, keeping her pinned. His mouth moves to pepper kisses across her jaw and she can’t help but cry out. Ben works down her throat, having to lean down to reach it. She feels him; solid and warm and everything she’s ever wanted in a partner.

Rey pulls his face back up to hers, willingly slotting their mouths together again. She gives an experimental rock of her hips against his thigh, causing him to rumble her name. Rey feels the vibrations more than hears his voice and it is by far her favorite way anyones ever said her name.

Suddenly, she feels his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back against the wall and any from him. Ben’s head hangs between them and she hears him muttering creative curse words.

“What’s wrong?” She asks desperately, willing her hands to stop instinctively reaching out towards. him.

“I can’t.”

The words hit her like ice water.

“What?”

“I can’t do this, Rey.” His voice is deeper than she’s heard before and _pained_.

“Why?” The desperation in her voice is unattractive, she’s sure, but she can’t be bothered with that.

“I’m essentially you teacher. This is… not okay.”

Ben finally looks back up at Rey, still keeping her shoulders firmly back to the wall. She can practically see the emotion swirling in his deep brown eyes, but is to keyed up to make sense of it. After a moment, he lets her go, removing himself and putting a good six feet between them.

“You’re leaving.” It’s a statement she’s said one too many times, but this one stings the most.

“I’m sorry. Pleas just… I’m sorry.”

Ben is out the door before Rey can stop him.

-

She makes it to her front door before the tears come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come say hi on tumblr!](https://ehstarwar.tumblr.com)


	4. when the battle’s lost and won

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Dr. Skywalker, you have two PhD’s. I think the scanner, a widely used form of communication, is well within your capabilities.”_
> 
> _He humphs unceremoniously at this. When he finally turns to face Rey, he’s wearing a sly grin that usually means danger, but Rey has learned that some things are better left unexplored. ___
> 
> __-_ _
> 
> __Rey gets some unexpected help from an unexpected source._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please accept this chapter as an apology for last chapter. i do it for the reylos (´ｖ｀)

The thick, fraying carpet gave a repulsive squelch beneath the soles of Rey’s rain-boots. She doesn’t know how it’s possible for so much rain water to have made it down the hall and into the professors offices, but she’s thankful for the protection of her walmart-brand rain boots regardless.

The rain outside was quickly turning into a wintery mix as night drew closer and Rey wanted to make it back to her apartment as quickly as possible. This was the last stop for the semester, picking up her final project results from Dr. Skywalker’s office. She knew the grade already, had for the last couple days, but his notes did occasionally provide some much needed insight.

Her attempts for him to send it to her via email had been quickly vetoed with a succinct:

**No**. =P

_Sent from my iPhone_

It was hard to resent a man who used outdated emojis and brought her expensive coffee on occasion, so she chose to let it go.

Dr. Skywalker’s office was in a perpetual state of disarray, but it had a nice homey feel to it. Rey had spent her fair share of course verbally sparing with Dr. Skywalker in here; enough to be comfortable opening the door and heading in.

“Hi, Dr. Skywalker,” She says, peering over the mountain of paperwork to see him.

“Rey! You braved this weather just to get you final back?” He asked, not looking away from his computer screen.

“I wouldn’t have had to if you’d just emailed me, like I asked.”

“I would’ve had to use the scanner.”

“Dr. Skywalker, you have two PhD’s. I think the scanner, a widely used form of communication, is well within your capabilities.”

He humphs unceremoniously at this. When he finally turns to face Rey, he’s wearing a sly grin that usually means danger, but Rey has learned that some things are better left unexplored. She eggs him towards her visit.

“So… my final project. Do you have it… somewhere?” She asks.

“Oh, yes,” He looks at a stack of papers roughly 2 feet tall, pulling out a packet from the middle section, in a stunning display of balance and perception. She’s also learned not to ask Dr. Skywalker more questions than necessary. “But first I’d like to discuss your performance this semester.”

Rey frowns at this. “My performance?”

He nods.

“Was it unsatisfactory?”

“Of course not. You’re one of my top students.” Rey would prefer to be _The_ Top Student, but she’ll settle for this.

“Okay then; what about my performance?”

“You had so much energy leading into this semester, but it seemed to plateau after the midterm. Were you unhappy with your score? Or maybe with another class even?”

Rey wasn’t unhappy with her score on his midterm; it was an A- and she agreed with all the points he knocked off and even appreciated his input going forward. Rey wasn’t unhappy with any of her other classes, either. A mix of A’s and one lowly B ( _curse you BioChem II_ ), but was overall happy with her academic performance.

Her unease and general displeasure the past few weeks stems from the Event She’d Rather Not Talk About, as she’d taken to calling it.

Alternatively, Ben.

Maybe she didn’t know him that well; maybe she spent the majority of their relationship dreaming about pushing him out of a seat that was hers; maybe he was right when he said that it wasn’t okay for them to get together. Maybe all of those things were true, and Rey accepted this.

_But it sill hurt._

She’d spent the rest of the weekend moping about it, refusing to like a stupid meme Poe shared with her on insta. By Monday, she was still in the dumps, but decided that no man who could kiss her then leave her within the span of 10 minutes was deserving of her tears. Even if that man had lips that tasted like pure sin and hands she could still feel the ghost of on her hips.

She had purposely come to class barely on time for the rest of the semester, to breeze past him, not sparing him a second glance, and sit in her officially-official seat in the back. She definitely didn’t stare at the back of his head and ruefully realize that the one opportunity she’d had to feel his hair beneath her fingertips had slipped away.

Rey had thrown herself into her schoolwork, using this lack of a significant other as an excuse to be the best student possible. Even if her social life (the minuscule one she had) had to suffer because of it.

“No… I just wanted to focus. Put my head down, petal to the metal, other clichés like that,” Rey says.

“So no problems? Not even… socially?” Dr. Skywalker was many things. Brilliant, charitable, occasional areshole. Subtle was not one of these things.

“I met your nephew. But I think you knew that.”

“As a matter of fact, I did!” He looks like the cat that caught the canary and Rey is beginning to think that is a set up of sorts.

“What did Ben tell you?” Rey asks, afraid of the answer but still desperate to know.

“My nephew is not one for over-sharing, if you can imagine, so you can imagine my surprise when three weeks ago, I receive an email from him. It takes him about… four paragraphs to get the nerve to _casually_ tell me he’s met a student of mine, and another two for him to _casually_ ask how you are.”

Rey’s heart drops.

“What did you tell him?” She asks too quickly, earning a pointed stare from Dr. Skywalker.

“I told him that if he cares about you enough to email me, one of, if not the, people he hates the most, he should man up and ask you himself.” Rey frowns. She’s not sure what she’d expect him to tell Ben, but that just seemed so… rude.

“Surely there was a better way to phrase that.”

Dr. Skywalker observe her for a moment. “You think I was too harsh?” He asks.

“Well… yes. Ben was just being nice. You should’ve taken it as a compliment that he emailed you at all. That was… probably a big step for him.” Rey is sure she’s pouting, even if she’s not sure why.

“Hmmm… I agree.” At that, Dr. Skywalker checks his watch, then hands Rey her final, notes and all, without anything further.

“So… that’s it?” She asks, tentatively taking the packet.

“That’s it.” He’s turned his attention back to his computer screen and Rey feels like she’s being brushed off.

“Okay, then. Well… have a good holiday. I guess I’ll see you in January.”

“See ya round, kid.” He says as she leaves his office.

Rey will have plenty of time to pick apart this interaction and let her mind spiral with this particular form of oddness from her mentor much later. Preferably when she’s back in her warm apartment, face mask on, wine in her hand, and safe from the winter storm that brewing out side. She makes it about twenty feet from Dr. Skywalker’s office when that plan goes down the drain.

Sliding in front of her on the linoleum floor, is a dripping wet, out of breath, dressed in black Ben.

He stops a few feet away from her, and Rey is in such a state of shock that words aren’t forming right now.

“Rey,” He says. _God_ , she’d forgotten how good that voice can sound. He walks towards her until she can feel his heavy exhales of breath on her face.

“It is,” Ben lifts his wrist to check his watch, “5:04pm. All final grades were submitted online at 5pm.” He says this with such determination, and Rey cannot fathom as to why.

“Okay..?”

“I finished putting everyones grades in about twenty minutes ago.”

“Congratulations?”

“Do you know what that means?” He asks her. If she thought she was confused by Dr. Skywalker’s odd behavior before, it is nothing compared to what she’s feeling now.

“I don’t know what that means, Ben. Care to enlighten me?” Her words are harsh but she’s a little fed up with this family’s shit.

“As of four minutes ago, I ceased being your superior in any way.”

“Well… good for you, I guess.”

“It also means that I can ask you out. On a date. With me. If you want.”

Rey’s body goes rigid. Realization dawns on her like a tidal wave and she feels so utterly stupid for not realizing it sooner. She stares at Ben for a few moments (mostly because she can), taking in his giant, brooding form, that she’s never liked quite as much as she does in this moment. Ben clears his throat and she realizes she’s been quiet for too long.

“Yes!” She screams. “Yes, I’ll go on a date with you. Yes, yes, very much yes-”

Ben is kissing her with a ferociousness that takes away Rey’s breath. His lips are still so surprisingly soft, and his hands still so magnificently large as they up her cheeks. The kiss is tender and sweet, yet hot and desperate all at the same time, and it makes Rey feel more justified in her moping since their last kiss.

Her hands rest on his chest and his forehead goes to rest on hers as they catch their breath. Someone, she doesn’t know who, starts breathlessly laughing, and soon enough they’re both clinging to each other to keep their knees from giving out.

“You ran all the way from the Fine Arts building?” She asks, lips brushing against his on every syllable.

“Yeah.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“Luke emails me that the girl I’d be too stupid to loose out on was in his office.” Rey can’t help the grin she thinks will permanently be on her face.

“He’s a very smart man, your uncle.”

Ben hums in disagreement, “You’re smarter.”

He kisses her again, slowly this time, like he’s mesmerizing every nudge, every slide, every movement they make together. It isn’t until an all-to-familiar chuckle pierces the silence that Rey or Ben look up.

Rey’s cheeks instantly redden, just like Ben’s ears.

“Just don’t do anything unseemly in the shop!” Dr. Skywalker shouts as he exits the building. Rey drops her head to Ben’s chest, feeling comforted by the deep rumble of laugher she feel there. He wraps his arms around her then, and she doesn’t care that he’s wet; she’ll hold him as long as he holds her.

“Ben?” She says, muffled by his chest. “I’m really glad I stole your seat.”

Rey doesn’t have to she his smile to know it’s there. “Me too.”

* * *

“Excuse me, but I think you’re in my seat.”

Rey whirls around, feeling very dramatic in the large, leather chair that probably cost as much as a car. She sees a very welcome sight; Ben, standing in the doorway, in a pristinely cut suit, wearing the comma-shaped cufflinks she got him for his last birthday.

“ _Now_ you have the guts to tell me to bugger off.” She jokes.

“Did I tell you to move, Ms. Niima?” He asks teasingly, using his best Professor Solo voice.

“No, I don’t believe you did, Professor Solo. Or is it Dr. Solo?” Rey asks, sitting up straighter. Ben comes around the large oak desk, depositing another cardboard box filled with books older than the university on it.

“I think I’ll make a special exception for you Ms. Niima. Can’t have a big-whig Lead Engineer of Resistance Enterprises, calling me something so… stuffy.” They’re both grinning at each other now, liking this vanilla role-playing too much.

“What should I call you then?” She asks.

Ben suddenly grabs Rey’s legs, picks her up, spins around and deposits them both in the chair so that she’s seated comfortably on his lap.

“I think you can just call me… fiancé. For now, at least.”

Rey doesn’t think she’ll ever get over the way his eyes sparkle when he looks at her like that. Like she’s the greatest thing he’s ever seen and that he’d fight the whole galaxy just hold her like he’s doing now.

“That sounds perfectly acceptable. You can just call me your seat thief.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come say hi on tumblr!](https://ehstarwar.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> [come say hi on tumblr!](https://ehstarwar.tumblr.com)


End file.
